READING CHALLENGE | #ToppingTheTBRathon

It is a dark and difficult time for all of us but despite all that is happening in the world, books still manage to help me escape. Being stuck at home has been doing me good. I now have the time to slow down and appreciate all the small things we usually miss because of our busy schedules. To entertain myself, I decided to participate in a weekend read-a-thon.

#ToppingTheTBRathon is a weekend readathon hosted by @abooktropolis01 and my friend, @rubyraereads’ book club, Topping the TBR. It will take place this weekend, from the 28th until the 30th of March. With five super fun challenges, it is bound to help you tick off a few of the books you have been wanting to get to.

March has not been too bad of a reading month for me. I decided to reread the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas, so those are the books that have been keeping me busy. But I still had a few other books on my TBR list for this month and thought this readathon would be the perfect opportunity for me to get to them.

I am a three books away from completing my Goodreads reading challenge of reading at least twenty books in 2020, so I will not only try to boost the total reads of March but will also try to complete my reading goal of the year.

If you want to boost your total reads of the month over the next few days, I highly recommend you join in on the fun. Topping the TBR will host one weekend readathon every month, therefore you can participate in April if you find it too difficult to join this one.

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MY MARCH #TOPPINGTHETBRATHON TBR

1ST CHALLENGE — read a book that’s been on your TBR for ages

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

G O O D R E A D S  |  S Y N O P S I S

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love – a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart. 

I have been wanting to get to this book for such a long time and have never had the chance. I am planning on finally picking it up this weekend and I am hoping to finish it before the end of the month. Everyone I have heard talking about this book said that they loved it, so I am really looking forward to see what I will think of it in the end.

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2ND CHALLENGE — read a book you recently hauled

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

G O O D R E A D S  |  S Y N O P S I S

Far beneath the surface of the earth, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. The entryways that lead to this sanctuary are often hidden, sometimes on forest floors, sometimes in private homes, sometimes in plain sight. But those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is searching for his door, though he does not know it. He follows a silent siren song, an inexplicable knowledge that he is meant for another place. When he discovers a mysterious book in the stacks of his campus library he begins to read, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities, and nameless acolytes. Suddenly a turn of the page brings Zachary to a story from his own childhood impossibly written in this book that is older than he is.

A bee, a key, and a sword emblazoned on the book lead Zachary to two people who will change the course of his life: Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired painter, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances. These strangers guide Zachary through masquerade party dances and whispered back room stories to the headquarters of a secret society where doorknobs hang from ribbons, and finally through a door conjured from paint to the place he has always yearned for. Amid twisting tunnels filled with books, gilded ballrooms, and wine-dark shores Zachary falls into an intoxicating world soaked in romance and mystery. But a battle is raging over the fate of this place and though there are those who would willingly sacrifice everything to protect it, there are just as many intent on its destruction. As Zachary, Mirabel, and Dorian venture deeper into the space and its histories and myths, searching for answers and each other, a timeless love story unspools, casting a spell of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a Starless Sea.

This is another book I have been planning to read in January and still have not gotten to yet. I bought this book as a Christmas gift to myself. It is not so recently hauled but I am making it count as I really need to get to it as soon as possible. Just like with The Night Circus, I have heard nothing but amazing things about it. Really hoping I can get to this one as well because both these books are quite long and I am a really slow reader but if not, one is better than none.

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3RD CHALLENGE — read a book with blue on the cover

Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo

G O O D R E A D S  |  S Y N O P S I S

A story about Mindy, a woman living with an eating disorder who has to learn how to love herself again.

In pursuit of the perfect body, Mindy buys the low-fat diet products and the glossy magazines which promise the secret to losing weight. One night, while perusing the aisles of the neighborhood convenience store for a midnight snack, she finds a new product. A chocolate bar called “Eat and Love Yourself”. On a whim, Mindy buys the curious candy, not knowing that with every piece of chocolate she eats, she will be brought back to a specific moment of her past — helping her to look at herself honestly, learn to love her body the way it is, and accepting love. Perhaps, she will even realize that her long lost high school best friend, Elliot, was more than just a friend…

After reading the synopsis, I was so intrigued that I immediately requested it on NetGalley and crossed all my fingers that I would receive a copy. It sounds like such a cute, yet important read. I think this will be a book I can somewhat relate to, so I am just really looking forward to get to it.

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4TH CHALLENGE — read a book set in another world (or country)

Ghosted in L.A. by Sina Grace

G O O D R E A D S  |  S Y N O P S I S

In Los Angeles, finding an apartment is killer—unless you live with the dead. Rycroft Manor may be old. It may be abandoned. It may even be haunted. But Daphne Walters doesn’t care about any of that—it has a pool and the rent is free. New to LA, coming off of a bad breakup and having a pretty terrible week, Daphne might need to crash on this haunted couch for a while, but having undead roommates might be more than she bargained for! Will the dead be able to help Daphne find the life she’s been missing in the big city? From GLAAD Award-nominated Sina Grace (Iceman) and illustrator Siobhan Keenan (Clueless, Jem and the Holograms) comes a story about learning how to make friends, find love, and live to the fullest with a little help from some friends whose lives didn’t end at death. 

I also requested this book on NetGalley after reading the synopsis and I was so happy to have received it. It sounds so humorous and light-hearted, plus it is a graphic novel which will help be get through it quickly.

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5TH CHALLENGE — read the monthly book club pick

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

G O O D R E A D S  |  S Y N O P S I S

Chain of Gold is the first novel in a new trilogy that stars the Shadowhunters of Edwardian London.

Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.

James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love.

Everyone has been buzzing about the author’s newest release. I admit, I really want to pick this one up but I have yet to read her books. I have been planning to binge read all of them this year (probably a bit too ambitious) before I get to this one.
Fun fact: I am the kind of person who needs to read an author’s books in the order they were published. So for this challenge, I will be sitting out but I honestly think Erin Morgenstern’s books will keep me busy enough :)

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I just want to thank Melleny and Ruby for hosting this weekend readathon. I think it is such a great way to get people to read more and to take our minds off of everything that is going on in this uncertain time.

To read and find out more about the readathon, make sure to check out the book club’s Instagram page here and Ruby’s blog post here.

Keep on reading, stay safe and never stop telling stories.

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